It is no surprise that words have power.  Even my two-year old knows that his words affect other people.  Some of the most powerful words I have experienced have been words of encouragement.  So much in life and ministry can be discouraging, but it is often the words of encouragement that remind us that the hard work is worth it and that we should stay the course.  I am blessed to have some great encouragers in my life and in my ministry.  My parents and my wife are a great source of blessing for me as I can always look to them to pick me up when I hit a slump.  I am also blessed to have some great parents, volunteers, and staff members who are constant sources of encouragement for the work that we are doing in the student ministry.

Recently I have encountered several fellow ministers who are struggling with discouraging circumstances in their ministries.  I totally get this as I have had times where my confidence was shaken or I felt the frustrations overtaking my perspectives.  When these times begin to creep in I turn to my encouragers.  I find encouragement from talking with people who have experienced transformation in our ministry.  I find encouragement in reading the letters or notes from students that have taken the time to write a note of thanks or blessing.  I find encouragement from simply talking about my discouragement with my encouragers.  My hope for people who are struggling with discouragement is that God will put some people in their lives who can cheer them on and help them celebrate the positives while seeking to work out the negatives.

Knowing how much of a blessing it is to have encouragement also challenges me to be a better cheerleader for my students, ministry parents, and volunteers.  Letting a student know that you are proud of them or that they did a great job is so simple and yet so powerful.  Students can receive so many negative words that the positive words from an adult leader or parent can make a huge difference.  Adolescence is also a time when students are defining their self-image, and we have a responsibility to help them see themselves as God sees them.  There is nothing like seeing a student light up because you let them know that you think they are awesome.  May God provide encouragement for you today as you seek to be an encouragement to others.

This week we had the privilege of attending the Orange Tour here in Nashville.  This one day conference gives you some great insight into family ministry and how to develop a strong philosophy of discipleship for the next generation.  Below are some of the takeaways I received from the conference.

1.  Every discipleship ministry must have an end in mind.  What do you want your students to value when they leave for college?  What do their lives look like?  Can they point out key insights gained through your ministry?  Once you have an end in sight, you will hopefully be able to determine whether what you are doing will lead to that end.

2.There is great value in crafting particular messages within your ministry.  Orange uses the words Wonder, Discovery, and Passion, as central themes for all of their teaching.  In our own ministries, we would do well to have some central lessons that we want our students to have mastery over.  Sometimes we can present so many lessons that the larger themes get lost in the details.  We are now working to determine what are the three main things that we want our students to deeply understand.  I am realistic in my understanding that the students will not remember many of the talks that I give or the lessons from Bible study, but I want to be sure that they leave our student ministry knowing what it really means to be a disciple.

3.  Every program must be working towards our big goals.  Just because a program is popular or tradition does not mean that it is what we need to be doing if we want to maximize our ministry efforts.  Truthfully, we have a couple of programs that could be reworked or replaced with more effective ones.  This would be difficult and perhaps unpopular, but if our goal is to truly make disciples, we must be willing to go with what we feel will accomplish that goal.

4.  We must be good stewards of technology.  As we seek to serve our community and reach the people around us, we must realize that technology is a major point of connection.  Technology allows us to spread our message and communicate to the people who have invested in our ministry.  I also learned that it is a little exhausting to try to keep up with all of the emerging tech pieces.  I was convinced, however, that it is worth it.

This summer my group and I were preparing to make the long trek back to our rooms when I spotted one of my biggest pet peeves in the world: the irresponsible youth minister.  He had chosen to demonstrate his unprofessionalism by jamming nine of his students in an SUV and then topped it off by riding on top of the vehicle with his legs hanging in the sun roof.  I did not hear any ambulances in the next few minutes so I assume that he made it down the incredibly steep mountain just fine, but damage was still done.

There is a difficult balance that all student ministers must manage.  We want to be cool, hip, and laid back.  However, we also want to be respected and trusted.  Unfortunately, in trying to develop our appeal to our students, we tend to lose our influence with the parents and church leadership.  The sad part is that our lack of professionalism so often diminishes our effectiveness in ministry.  When it comes to acting professionally in ministry, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Being young is not an excuse.  This is the regular excuse that is offered for why youth ministers tend to do really stupid things.  I’m not sure why this would work in our ministry context when it would never fly in most professional careers.  Imagine if a young doctor or young accountant showed up whenever he or she wanted to.  Imagine if they were the people doing wild and crazy things in the office during business hours or in staff meetings.  How long would they have a job?  Why is our standard for accountants, store managers, or lawyers higher than our standard for ministers?

2. Being a minister means setting an example.  In addition to the fact that you are teaching and living out the gospel, you are also setting an example for your students.  You are responsible for showing your students what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.  This means that you must have personal standards that reflect faith in Christ.  It also means understanding that students are always watching you whether you are online or at a football game.

3. Just because you work with teenagers does not mean that you need to act like one.  Again, there is a difficult balance when it comes to working with teenagers.  I love to do some of the things that my students do like go to high school football games or play Call of Duty online.  I also realize that things that teenagers like to do such as pranks, breaking traffic laws, and listening to profane music are pretty much off-limits if I want to have influence.

4. Ministry jobs are actual jobs.  If you want to get paid and desire job security, it would probably be great to complete your job related tasks.  While ministry means hanging out and preaching the gospel, it also means planning, paperwork, and communicating.  If you don’t want to work in an office, become a volunteer.  I get so tired of hearing about youth ministers who are the class clowns of their church staffs.  Wouldn’t it be great if the student minister was the most organized one on staff?  Let’s raise the bar a little bit.